A mountain retreat with a history, one hour from Santiago.

A house with a past

It was the home of Darío Sainte-Marie, the journalist who founded the Clarín newspaper in 1954 and was secretary to President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. Politicians of every persuasion met here, and Salvador Allende came up to swim in the pool our guests use today, as the Chilean outlet CIPER documented.

In 1940 he was living in New York; in 1969 he was invited to the launch of Apollo 11, and the invitation is still in the house. What belongs to the house’s tradition, such as Ava Gardner’s visit, we tell as tradition.

Boutique, the old way

Books in the sitting rooms and poetry in the bedrooms, a piano, a stone fireplace, a marble fountain in the garden. No lobby and no buffet: homemade breakfast, a private hot tub slot facing the Andes, and a pool filled with mountain water from springs and snowmelt.

Culture and nature in one trip

From the house: Cascada de las Ánimas 19 minutes away; the road to Lagunillas, the one the house is on, a classic bike climb; and the El Morado glacier hike or Embalse El Yeso as full-day trips. Back to the hot tub at sunset.

Staying

CLP 180,000 a night for two, any day of the week, with homemade breakfast, the pool and a hot tub slot included. Family suite CLP 200,000; the bungalow, with its own private hot tub, CLP 250,000.

From the house, by car

• 75 minSantiago airport (SCL)
• 5 minSan José de Maipo village
• 19 minCascada de las Ánimas (rafting, horse riding, trails)
• 43 minConcha y Toro winery, in Pirque
• 72 minBaños Morales, gateway to the Valle de Colina hot springs
• 79 minEmbalse El Yeso reservoir

Questions